I think the Pistons are going to be way better this season than advertised and commonly thought.

I think we're going to prove to be one of the most talented offensive teams in the league, although a couple of the keys to that talent performing are a rookie (Monroe) and a second year player (Daye), and the guys we have at point guard aren't "true points", and the team is in a lot of flux and there are tons of options to sort through -- which all suggests to me that the team will have some consistency problems and will make a few too many turnovers while the young guys are learning to play.

Still, I think we're going to really enjoy this season - unless you're someone who isn't happy unless the team wins the championship. For me, I love watching the Pistons when they're in young up and coming mode. Right now, we're going to watch a team with a guy who is going to eventually be the top passing center in the league and who has an excellent offensive game besides that. Daye is going to be special, and he's really hard to guard with his length and handle and superior shooting from all over the court - another great guy to run the offense through. Stuckey is a monster when he lines up at PG. So is Bynum as a spark off the bench. Gordon is a top offensive SG - everyone knows that. For the old guys, Rip is going to love being in their with Monroe - running off picks and getting the ball passed to him from the high and mid-post, Rip has never had a guy like Monroe who can do that. Tay seems rejuventated and the offense can run through him too - in fact, I bet we see that a lot this season. Ben Wallace is a strong passer. I haven't even mentioned CV yet - a very talented offensive player, or Maxiell who has his moments. I also think, if he can get any regular PT, which is pretty questionable, unfortunately, due to our depth,that Summers can be an excellent offensive player (and frankly, I think he's got excellent D possibilities also).

Seriously, this has the potential of being a superior offensive team. They just need time and a sense of great team spirit. So far, I'm thinking they have a real chance to get in a great rhythm this season.

Defense and rebounding will tell the story of the season. I think we'll see the team overmatched by teams that have great size and strength up front. Monroe isn't anywhere near as strong as he'll be in a couple seasons. Daye will struggle against super strong PF's - and CV isn't going to give us great D. Maxiell is limited sometimes by his height. Wilcox? I'll believe in Wilcox being really good when I see it - I'm skeptical, plus I think he'll end up far down in the team's pecking order. Ben Wallace as our savior again - maybe, but he's at the tail end of his career and I don't see him getting more than 20 - 25 minutes a game with our depth and to protect his legs. I like Summers a lot as a potential power forward - he's got a lot of game and potential at both ends of the court, but it's a bit hard to see him getting high enough in the pecking order on our team this season to make much of an impact.

I can get the possibility that the team will really compete. The best we can hope for, I think, is a team that plays every game with the intensity of the Houston Rockets - a team that the past season just played every game really hard. From what I hear, the Pistons practices are ultra-competitive. We've got the depth to play that way all season, so that's my hope. Still, some teams will just overmatch us physically.

So, with youthful and unfamiliary based inconsistency on O,and not quite having the horses and relying on some guys on D who aren't physically ready for every challenge, I see us around .500.

BUT - at some point, Joe's going to make a trade or acquire a big strong physical center. When and if that happens, that might throw everything into flux for a time. Then, all bets and predictions are off until we see what we've got and how it all works together. So, .500 up and until that trade is my prediction.

Jebarkos injury hurt us pretty bad, T-Mac seems to be on life support and our possible breakout player (Daye) plays on the same position as three unbenchable veterans so I doubt we'll improve more than 7 games from last year. However I do believe we'll improve since it's improbable that we'll get hit as hard by injuries as we did last year.

Jebarkos injury hurt us pretty bad, T-Mac seems to be on life support and our possible breakout player (Daye) plays on the same position as three unbenchable veterans so I doubt we'll improve more than 7 games from last year. However I do believe we'll improve since it's improbable that we'll get hit as hard by injuries as we did last year.

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Jerebko was my favorite player last season. Losing him is a major bummer, in my opinion.

The Pistons are consistently finishing below my expectations. Actually falling short by 4 victories per season. I then looked at all other items that matter to me and came up with 25 wins as my initial projection. Finally, I subtracted 4 wins from my very scientific process and have a final total of 21 wins...

The Pistons are consistently finishing below my expectations. Actually falling short by 4 victories per season. I then looked at all other items that matter to me and came up with 25 wins as my initial projection. Finally, I subtracted 4 wins from my very scientific process and have a final total of 21 wins...

Roscoe...Please forgive me...

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In the interest of full disclosure, Nemo crapped out of the Yahoo Survivor game this year after 2 weeks.

The start of this season looks tough, in fact the first six weeks look brutal. A bad start (2-8) is almost certain because our coach won't settle on his best lineup until after the playoffs are out of the question.

A flurry of wins in the last two weeks result in an almost respectable 36 wins.